Before he left for Norway, Dave Walden observed that there was a
simple change to the Host/IMP specifications which would eliminate all "marking" problems. The change is to separate the leader from the text of regular messages, and then to send them as consecutive messages instead of one packed message. The text would then start on a word boundary no matter what the word lengths of the machines involved. The process would take place on both IMP-to-Host and Host-to-IMP messages.

We can see no disadvantages to this scheme, and a sampling of Host
reactions range from neutral to wildly enthusiastic. Therefore, we tentatively plan to implement this change. We recognize that this change will involve Host program changes, and that the new release must be scheduled to coincide with those changes. We propose providing modified Host spec text along with a one week notice of the new release.

If anyone sees a flaw in this scheme, or is unhappy about it, please
contact BBN quickly, since a new version of the IMP program is already in the works.

[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by Kai Henningsen 5/97 ]